


Thursday Nights

by irlenolacroix



Series: The Smiling Twenties [12]
Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: 1920s, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Character Introduction, Gay Male Character, Gen, Jewish Character, Original Character(s), alcohol mention, he’s the best and we Love Him, leigh murphy sir we adore you, yeah this is solely to introduce our oc boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21612190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irlenolacroix/pseuds/irlenolacroix
Summary: The Habitat gets an interesting new regular patron, one who may soon find himself further entangled into its inner workings than he thinks. Leigh Murphy isn’t thinking about that, though. He just wants to hear the band play.
Series: The Smiling Twenties [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1500791
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Thursday Nights

**Author's Note:**

> hey y’all! meet leigh murphy! he’s an oc created by myself and max (Never_Eat_Sour_Wheat) specifically for this au! he’s very dear to both of us and we’re super excited to introduce him to the habitat, and to all of you, our lovely readers!
> 
> if you’re interested in this au, feel free to check out our sideblog on tumblr, @thesmiling20s !!! comments and kudos are super appreciated as always, thank you all so much!!! :-)

“I… was wondering if I could have next Saturday off.”

“Why?”

Leigh shifted a little, putting a bit more weight on his left leg. “Prior obligation. It… might become a recurring thing, it might not. I can update you that Sunday.” He let out a sheepish little laugh. “I know, I know, I’m sorry… It’s annoying for me, too, I know how frustrating it is to toss a wrench in your schedule like that—”

“No. It’s okay.” Leigh’s boss was tight-lipped and didn’t make eye contact, but at least his voice was even. “Just… let me know if it becomes a recurring issue. We can talk about rearranging your time.”

Leigh felt his full body relax, but tried not to show his relief. Still, his shoulders fell and his spine dipped back into its regular curvature, putting a little extra pressure on his left hip. “Thank you, sir.”

“Yes, yes.”

Leigh nearly collapsed when he returned to his desk, overcome with what seemed to be a weight off of his shoulders, the adrenaline of a near-death experience fresh in his veins. His eyes were bright for the rest of the day, even as they squinted to read tiny words written on too-dense documents. He wasn’t going to let the anxiety set in yet, not until he got home. Right now, he still had a job, and he could bask in that, at least until it was time to leave. If the anxiety came later, well… He was going to the Habitat tonight, anyways. He didn’t like to say he drank his anxiety away, but it didn’t hurt to admit that a good drink and an even better band helped to soothe him every now and again.

The day passed far more quickly after that. Leigh felt like he was home in seconds. He took his keys from his pocket as he headed up the concrete stairs to the door of his townhome, sandwiched neatly between several identical townhomes that lined the block. He cracked the door after unlocking it, slowly inching his leg through before pulling his body afterwards, as if he were holding something back. As he closed the door quickly behind him, the creature he was holding back was revealed.

“Hey, Stella,” Leigh said, crouching down as best as he could without hurting his left leg too badly. A big, blue-eyed husky was eagerly wagging her tail at him and pressing her face into his chest, letting out little excited noises and tapping her paws against the hardwood floor. Leigh giggled as Stella moved to lick at his face and he wrapped his arms around her, gently, warmly. “Yes, yes, honey, I missed you too! Let me get up, though. Did Tia come by to take you for your walk like she said she would?”

Stella didn’t answer verbally, but she wasn’t running to the door, so Leigh took that as a yes. He’d so hoped to see his sister Tia tonight, he hadn’t seen her in a while, but right now most of her time was spent gathering her things to move in with her boyfriend. Leigh liked the guy well enough, and he was glad that Tia had found somebody she was so happy with, but he had to admit it was lonely going to the Habitat without her rambunctious accompaniment.

_ You ought to find yourself a boyfriend of your own to go out with you when I’m unavailable _ , Tia had said to him last week. Leigh had chuckled shyly and changed the subject as quickly as he could, much to his sister’s annoyance. It was no secret that Leigh fancied men, and it was even less of a secret that he hardly ever had much luck talking to them.  _ Especially  _ the cute ones.

Okay. It was six o’clock now. The Habitat didn’t open up for business until around nine-thirty on an early night, and the band usually didn’t start up until ten. He had some time to himself. He should probably make dinner, or at least get into more casual clothes…

Ah, who was he kidding? He was definitely going to go to his default after-work filling-time activity. His violin case was in the kitchen. He had a new piece to work on before he headed out. 

“You’ll pull me out of my zone if I practice for too long, right, Stell?” Leigh said, turning to raise his eyebrows at the dog. Stella let out a soft chuffing sound in response, and Leigh chuckled to himself. “Good girl. Thank you. Keep an eye on the clock for me.”

By the time Leigh finished working on his piece, it was already dark outside. Stella was staring intently at her food bowl and the clock in the kitchen was five minutes slow. He put the violin away, gave Stella her dinner, and paid no mind to his own hunger as he went to change out of his work clothes. It was rare that he had time to go out on a Thursday. He wondered if the band would play the same things they always did. He wondered if it would feel different.

Leigh pressed a kiss to the top of Stella’s head before he left. She stood at the door, watching him leave through the window, before going to curl up on the floor of Leigh’s bedroom and falling asleep.

In a few hours, Leigh would join her. He wouldn’t quite stumble through the door, he wasn’t that tipsy, but he would trip a little. His mind would be foggy with thoughts of the band’s music and a beautiful boy he’d spotted across the bar. He’d fall into bed beside Stella, not bothering to change clothes, simply kicking his shoes off before falling asleep, a gentle smile still on his face.

Maybe Thursday nights should be his new going-out nights, if each one was going to be like this. 


End file.
